UPDATE: The area in Pennington where utility workers today discovered bones thought to be human is believed to have been a burial ground.

The area has been worked on in the past and has been approved for construction by county, federal, and tribal offices. There is still an investigation underway to determine the exact origin of the bones, but it is believed the area that was being worked on may have been a burial ground.

Leech Lake’s Heritage Sites Program and an archeologist will make the next decisions regarding respectfully returning the remains.

ORIGINAL STORY: Possible human bones were discovered by a utility crew in Brook Lake Township, Pennington, MN.

According to a release from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, “On Tuesday, August 24, 2021, at approximately 12:40 PM, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received a report from a utility crew that they had unearthed what they believed were human bones.”

The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, Leech Lake Tribal Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Leech Lake Tribal Preservation Office and Heritage Sites Program responded to the scene.

The investigation is on-going.

By — Betsy Melin